HARTFORD — A video showing two Hartford police officers subduing a suspect in an alley and one officer striking him repeatedly with a baton on the back of his leg has stirred concern among some community groups and Rep. Brandon McGee, who posted the video on his Facebook page Monday evening.

According to police, Samuel Bryant, 34, of 42 Pliny St., Hartford, was stopped Sunday evening on Brook Street by Detective Brian Salkeld and Officer Robert Fogg after they saw him drinking from an open wine cooler in a brown bag. The officers searched Bryant and found a knife and then continued to search him. After asking Bryant to place his hands on the police car, Fogg continued to search him and felt a heavy object in a coat pocket that he said was consistent with a firearm, according to the incident report.

At that point, Bryant pushed off the car and Fogg grabbed him by the back of his coat, slowing him down. Salkeld also grabbed Bryant from behind in a bear hug. At that point, Bryant began to throw punches and swing his elbow, striking Salkeld in the nose and breaking it. Salkeld was temporarily knocked unconscious by the blow, police said.

According to police, Fogg used a Taser on Bryant twice without results and tried to wrestle him to the ground before Salkeld caught up to him and both tried to wrestle him to the ground. When the video begins, it shows Salkeld bear-hugging Bryant from behind and Fogg striking him repeatedly on the back of his lower left leg.

A screenshot taken from the Facebook page of State Representative Brandon McGee.

A screenshot taken from the Facebook page of State Representative Brandon McGee.

Bryant, who police said had served 10 years in prison on an attempted murder conviction, was in possession of crack and powdered cocaine. He was not carrying a gun.

He was charged with drinking in public, interfering with police, assault on a public safety officer and possession of narcotics. His bond on those charges was $150,000, police said.

Bryant, who is on probation, according to police, was also charged with possession with intent to sell a controlled substance, possession with intent to sell a controlled substance within 1,500 feet of a school and second-degree assault. His bond on those charges was set at $100,000, according to police.

Imam Abdul-Shahid Muhammad Ansari, president of the Hartford chapter of the NAACP, said that his organization met with Police Chief James Rovella prior to a Tuesday afternoon press conference called by police to get some answers.

Ansari said that he had seen the video and was concerned, but added that he wanted to "get all the facts to see what took place."

"Then we would make a decision to move forward. It would be premature to do otherwise," Ansari said.

At the press conference at the public safety complex Tuesday afternoon, Rovella said that he had spoken with Ansari and other leaders in the community about the incident and that although they had some difficult questions, he said there were no indications that protests or rallies were forthcoming.

Rovella also replayed the video and discussed its contents. He also provided copies of the incident report, the use of less lethal force report, the department's policies and procedures for the use of lethal force and a summary of the officers' disciplinary history.

The incident report also included a statement from Bryant, who said that he panicked when the officers told him to put his hands behind his back and that he didn't mean to strike Salkeld.

"For the record, this was never intentional," he said in the statement, adding that he was nervous and trying to get away.

"I panicked. I have a problem with drinking," he said. "I apologized to the officer and he accepted my apology. I apologized to the [sergeant], also."

Rovella said that although the use of less lethal force report determined that "force used by the officer was appropriate and proportional to the resistance used by the suspect," and that he believed that the "training model was followed," he planned to open an internal affairs investigation to be sure that proper procedures were followed.

Rovella also cautioned that the public was not getting a complete picture of the incident from the video.

"You have to see what we see from the beginning to the end," he said. "What you see is the end."

Bishop John Selders Jr. of the United Church of Christ in Hartford and a leader of the Moral Monday group, which staged a "Black Lives Matter" protest downtown that clogged rush hour traffic and resulted in a dozen arrests, including his own, felt he had seen enough from the video to make a judgment.

"I don't quite know the circumstances, we see the video from midstream," Selders said Tuesday before details were released. "But what I can say is that no human being should be subjected to that. This was inhumane, we don't treat dogs like that."

After learning the circumstances behind the incident, Selders was not inclined to change his view.

"I think we always need to treat people humanely," he said, adding that his group planned to continue to "raise the temperature a bit" and bring more attention to what is happening in the community.

McGee said he was in a legislative debate Monday night on a bill regarding excessive use by police, when he saw the video for the first time.

McGee said he immediately called Rovella, who told him that he knew about the video and that the department was investigating the incident.

McGee said he was not anti-police but didn't support the idea that the officers "had to beat him down because he punched an officer in the face."

Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra said Tuesday that while he was extremely concerned by what he saw in the video and could understand the community outrage, he was also getting more information to provide context.

"What is most important now is to have transparent conversations with community leaders," Segarra said.